About

Lisa D. Pfefferle is the C. Baldwin Sawyer Professor of Chemical & Environmental Engineering at Yale University. Her research focuses on chemical reaction engineering, combustion kinetics, biofuels, soot formation mechanisms, carbon nanotube synthesis and separation, and nanomaterials for energy, environmental, and biomedical applications. She has been recognized with awards such as the IBM Faculty Award in 2005 and holds five patents related to nanomaterials synthesis and medical applications. Her work includes significant contributions to the understanding and development of nanomaterials and their applications in energy and health sectors, with a notable publication record that emphasizes synthesis techniques and mechanisms in nanotechnology and combustion processes.

Research topics

• Organic chemistry
• Chemistry
• Materials science
• Physical chemistry
• Nanotechnology
• Chemical engineering
• Mineralogy
• Computational chemistry
• Chromatography
• Photochemistry
• Thermodynamics
• Environmental chemistry
• Inorganic chemistry

Selected publications

• Engineering Direct S-Scheme Heterojunctions with Ultrafast Interfacial Charge Transfer: A Case Study on 2-Dimensional α-Fe₂O₃/Cu₂O Interfaces

  ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces · 2025-10-02 · 4 citations

  articleSenior authorCorresponding

  Longer wavelengths of light contain less energy but comprise more of the solar spectrum, making them important to incorporate into any process aiming for high efficiency. Here, we developed a novel redox-mediated synthetic mechanism to construct a heterojunction with strongly coupled interfaces. Specifically, an α-Fe2O3/Cu2O/CuO nanosheet composite was synthesized, forming an S-scheme α-Fe2O3/Cu2O electronic interface, a burgeoning class of materials designed to upconvert longer wavelengths of light and utilize solar energy more effectively. Through a series of experiments including X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), ultraviolet–visible (UV–Vis) diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV–Vis-DRS), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and photocatalytic measurements, we were able to fully confirm the electronic structure of the α-Fe2O3/Cu2O interfacial heterojunction. These characterizations demonstrate the S-scheme flow of electrons, which is further supported by COMSOL numerical simulations. The successful formation of the S-scheme heterojunction is made possible through the direct Fe–O–Cu covalent bonding at the interface. These bonds provide ultrafast interfacial charge transfer pathways on picosecond time scales followed by long-lived charge-separated states, as quantified by our transient optical experiments. The proposed redox-mediated synthetic strategy provides a valuable guideline for constructing effective solid heterojunctions with strongly coupled interfaces, which are desirable for various applications in catalysis, energy storage, electronics, photovoltaics, and beyond.

  PublisherDOI

• A versatile one-stone-two-birds strategy for facile fabrication of molecularly imprinted BiOBr composites: An efficient approach for selective removal of target contaminants from water

  Journal of Cleaner Production · 2024-06-01 · 6 citations

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Experimental and Numerical Study of the Decomposition, Product Spectrum, and Sooting Properties of Adamantane Fuels

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2024-01-01

  preprintOpen access
  PublisherDOI

• Strain-driven magnetic transition of intercalated pressure-stabilized cobalt and cobalt oxide nanoparticles in linked graphene oxide nanoscale reactors

  Carbon · 2024-07-10 · 1 citations

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Sooting tendencies: Combustion science for designing sustainable fuels with improved properties

  Proceedings of the Combustion Institute · 2024-01-01 · 8 citations

  articleOpen access1st author

  The transition from fossil fuels to sustainable fuels offers a unique opportunity to select new fuel compositions that will not only reduce net carbon dioxide emissions , but also improve combustor performance and reduce emissions of other pollutants. A particularly valuable goal is finding fuels that reduce soot emissions. These emissions cause significant global warming , especially from aviation since soot particles are the nucleation site of contrails . Furthermore, soot contributes to ambient fine particulates , which are responsible for millions of deaths worldwide each year. Fortunately, soot formation rates depend sensitively on the molecular structure of the fuel, so fuel composition provides a strong lever for reducing emissions. Sooting tendencies measured in laboratory-scale flames provide a scientific basis for selecting fuels that will maximize this benefit. Recent work has developed new techniques that expand the range of compounds that can be tested by reducing the required sample volume and increasing the dynamic range. This has many benefits, but it is particularly essential for the development of structure-property relationships using machine learning algorithms : the accuracy and predictive ability of these relationships depends strongly on the number of compounds in the training set and the coverage of structural features. This paper reviews: (1) these new techniques; (2) trends in sooting tendency versus molecular structure; (3) structure-property relationships for sooting tendency; and (4) interpretation of the observed trends based on first-principle chemical kinetic and molecular dynamic simulations.

  PublisherDOI

• Experimental and numerical study of the decomposition, product spectrum, and sooting properties of adamantane fuels

  Fuel · 2024-08-31 · 3 citations

  article
  PublisherDOI

• The sooting behavior of lactones as sustainable fuels

  Sustainable Energy & Fuels · 2024-01-01 · 3 citations

  articleOpen access

  Quantitative sooting tendencies were measured for 10 lactones with a wide range of molecular structures. Lactones have potential as low-soot, sugar-derived alternative fuels.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Sooting tendency of substituted aromatic oxygenates: The role of functional groups and positional isomerism in vanillin isomers

  Proceedings of the Combustion Institute · 2024-01-01 · 2 citations

  article
  PublisherDOI

• High performance alkyl dialkoxyalkanoate bioderived transportation fuels accessed using a mild and scalable synthetic protocol

  Sustainable Energy & Fuels · 2024-01-01

  articleOpen access

  Pyruvate-derived dialkoxyalkanoates (DAOAs) were synthesized in good yield using a mild protocol. Combustion performance and physical properties of DAOAs compare favorably to other low-carbon diesel fuels.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Non-intrusive temperature measurements in the vicinity of a thermocouple using synchrotron x-ray fluorescence

  Combustion and Flame · 2024-07-31 · 1 citations

  article
  PublisherDOI

Recent grants

• NSF/DOE Partnership on Advanced Combustion Engines: Sooting Behavior of Conventional and Renewable Diesel-Fuel Compounds and Mixtures

  NSF · $600k · 2013–2016

• Collaborative Research: Diameter and Chirality Control and Regrowth of Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes

  NSF · $300k · 2008–2012

• Formation of Toxic Combustion Byproducts and Soot

  NSF · $415k · 2002–2005

• Fuel Decomposition and Aromatic Formation Pathways for the Hydrocarbons Contained in Liquid Combustion Fuels

  NSF · $242k · 2005–2008

• Collaborative Research: Scalable Separation of Single Walled Carbon Nanotubes

  NSF · $240k · 2013–2016

Frequent coauthors

• Charles S. McEnally

  131 shared

• Gary L. Haller

  Yale University

  118 shared

• Dragoș Ciuparu

  Babeș-Bolyai University

  67 shared

• Sangyun Lim

  Yale University

  57 shared

• Junqing Zhu

  Yale University

  42 shared

• Nan Li

  Changzhou University

  33 shared

• Yuan Chen

  Chongqing University

  31 shared

• Mathieu Pinault

  30 shared

Labs

• Pfefferle Lab GroupPI

Education

• PhD, Chemical Engineering

  University of Pennsylvania

  1983

Awards & honors

• IBM Faculty Award (2005)